Greetings!

We are on the brink of some very powerful and important decisions that will profoundly affect the direction of this beautiful and unique state. Through collaboration, innovation and respectful communication I believe we can face tough choices today and support a vision for a sustainable future. We can create a state budget which reflects Vermont’s priorities and is lean but not mean.

My skill in bringing divergent groups together to solve complex problems is much needed in the legislature. Blame and attack often keep us spinning in circles and in defensive argument; whereas appreciation of differences and seeking to understand is more likely to lead us to solution. Vermonters are asking for this. We have many challenges ahead.

Shelburne News

Whether it is phosphorus pollution in Lake Champlain or PFOA in Bennington’s groundwater, the Legislature continued in its efforts to address gaps in our prevention and response system and allocate resources to protect our waters.

As we enter the last weeks of the session, several issues face an uncertain outcome. By the end of the session, all we are really required to pass are balanced budgets for the general fund, education and transportation. The rest is optional. Anything that does not make it through dies, as we say, “on the wall,” meaning the bill number and title pinned on committee bulletin boards are pulled down and discarded. Dead. One of those bills still under consideration, perhaps on life support, is S.241, a bill that would regulate recreational use of marijuana.

Members of Vermont United recently asked that Representative Lenes and I take a more vocal role in opposing the Vermont Railway (VRS) intermodal facility slated for development in Shelburne. I am responding here.

Vermont is a driving state. Our development patterns and limited public transportation require most of us to have access to a vehicle to get to work, buy groceries and participate in community life. Loss of a license can become a huge economic barrier; yet dangerous drivers are costly to our communities in life-altering ways.

During the hard times of the recession, state government and businesses stepped up to partner with Vermonters to ensure that all of us were safe and able to thrive. We are now in the midst of a multi-year process to bring structural stability to Vermont's budget while preserving the central functions of government. This means taking a hard look at government priorities and funding those that meet core values.

Representative Lenes and I receive requests from our community regarding personal, local, and state as well as global issues. With 14 committees in the House and 11 in the Senate, the legislature is well designed to hear concerns, from large to small, and from personal to far-reaching issues important to Vermont citizens.